Infinity War: Thanos Wants To 'Rebalance The Universe'

For five years, Marvel fans everywhere have been anxiously waiting for setting up and introducing each of the six Infinity Stones that he hopes to collect and together.

Not much is known about Thanos' actual plan in Infinity War as of yet, and Marvel hasn't really had much time to hint at it - since the studio has been so busy setting up both the character himself and the tools he'll need to complete his mission. There's no telling how closely Infinity War is adapting the original comic book storyline either; meaning that while fans know how badly Thanos wants to fully assemble the Infinity Gauntlet, they don't know what it is he actually wants to do with it after that (in the MCU, that is).

In the Civil War, and Avengers: Infinity War co-screenwriter Stephen McFeely talks briefly about Thanos' plan in Infinity War. McFeely predictably keeps his comments purposefully vague and even leaves out one key word that knowledgeable comic book fans may take note of:

“His goal is to re-balance the universe as he sees it. So when he figures out that the Infinity Stones could do this for him at the snap of a finger, that becomes his main goal.”

McFeely noticeably avoids using the word Death when describing Thanos' plan in the special features and when choosing not to elaborate on what exactly he means by "rebalancing the universe." This is notable since, as fans of the comics will know, Death is an actual character in the comics who takes on the physical embodiment of a woman whom Thanos is in love with. Most of the time in the comics, Thanos is killing and plotting to take over the universe in order to try and please Lady Death, providing her with as many souls as he can. So for McFeely not to even mention Death here is interesting, especially since the post-credits scene of The Avengers ended with Thanos smiling at the thought of attacking Earth, and "courting Death."

That could likely be just McFeely wanting to avoid as many possible spoilers as possible, especially if Marvel is planning on keeping Death's role in the film a secret until its release. But it could also just as likely mean that Lady Death doesn't appear in the film at all, and Thanos' plan to "rebalance the universe" may have nothing to do with pleasing Death itself. That would be a fairly monumental change for Marvel to make from the comics, especially since the character of Death is fairly integral to Thanos' motivations and entire way of thinking, and his love for her is one of the more interesting things about him. The phrase "rebalancing the universe" seems to hint at him killing a large amount of people one way or another also, but that could refer to him trying to rebalance all the power in the universe to be under his control as well.

At this point, it seems almost impossible to know for sure. There have been conflicting reports about whether or not Death will be a character in the Marvel Universe for years now, with some reporting that she will and others reporting that she wouldn't. One report last year even hinted that Cate Blanchett's villainous Hela from Thor: Ragnarok could fill in for that role. Right now, it doesn't seem like this is one question Marvel is planning on answering anytime soon, but that also isn't stopping them from confirming and teasing just how large Thanos' goals are going to be when we meet him in Infinity War.